eteridg-e



(No Model.) 4 ShetsSheet 1.

1-. N. ETHRIDGE. MACHINE FOR MARKING MAIL MATTER.

No. 449,863 Patented Mar.31,1891.

WITNESSES- -C/ 76OLU INVENTEIR m: 0 m reruns cu, Womunm msmuwu o c (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2,

F. N. ETHRIDGE.

MACHINE FOR MARKINGMAIL MATTER.

No. 449,363. Patented Mar. 31 1891.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

.F. N. ETHRIDGE.

MACHINE FOR MARKING MAIL MATTER.

. 9,363. Patented Mar. 31, 1891.

mmissii 2;

- -7aQU/,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK N. ETI-IRIDGE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN POSTAL MACHINES COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

MACHINE FOR. MARKING MAIL-MATTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 449,363, dated March 31, 1891. Application filed November 1, 1890- Serial No. 370,069. (No model.)

To cbZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK N. ETHRIDGE, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Marking Mail-Matter, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide a simple and efficient machine adapted to rapidly and accurately apply postmarks and stamp-canceling marks to pieces of mailmatter; and it consists in the several improvements which I will now proceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a front elevation of a machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents an end elevation of the same. Fig. 3 represents a top View. Fig. at represents a horizontal section through the impression-roll, and its carryingshaft and the head that carries the printingform, said section being taken on the plane of line 4. at, Fig. 5. Fig. 5 represents a vertical section through said parts,tal en on line 5 5, Fig. 4. Figs. 6 and 7 represent sections on line 4 4, Fig. 5, showing the conditions at different stages of the operation. Fig. 8 represents a section showing a modification of the construction shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

The sameletters and numerals of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, a represents a horizontal bed or table, which rests on a supportingframe I).

0 represents a positively-rotated vertical shaft, which extends upwardly through the table CL and has aflixed to it above said table a circular head (6, which comprises a segmental printing-form 2, which includes a portion of the periphery of the head, the remaining portion of said periphery being in the 11ature of a feeding-surface, so that the head in making a complete rotation will cooperate with an imprcssion-roll, presently described, in printing and positively feeding a letter or other piece of mail-matter which is inserted between the meeting portions of said head and impression-roll.

6 represents another vertical shaft which projects upwardly through the table a.

f represents an impression-roll, which is mounted loosely upon the shaft e, its periphery being arranged to co operate with. the head d in printing and positively feeding letters, as hereinafter described.

g represents a clutch, which is movable in a recess in the impression-roll f, and is adapted to bear on a collar or enlargement 7L, formed on or rigidly attached to the shaft 6. lVhen said clutch is pressed inwardly and bears on said collar 72 the im pression-roll f becomes engaged with the shaft and rotates therewith; but when pressure is removed from said clutch the impression-roll becomes loose, so that it remains motionless upon the shaft, the roll being separated from the shaft by means of a hearing or fixed collar '21, Fig. 5, projecting upwardly from the table into a circular cavity at the center of the impression-roll, as shown in Figs. at and 5.

9 represents an arm or lever, which. is pivoted at g to the impression-roll and has its inner end formed as a cam bearing against the back of the clutch 9. (See Fig. 4.) Said arm projects outside of the periphery of the impression-roll and across the space between the impression-roll and the head d, int-o which a letter enters preparatory to being grasped, positively fed, and printed by the action of said head and impression-roll.

\Vhen the arm g is in the position shown in Fig. 4,it exerts no pressure upon the clutch g, so that the impression-roll is loose upon the shaft c and does not rotate.

The machine is provided with means, here inafter described, for yieldingly moving aletter 7i; toward the meeting-point of the head (I and the impression-roll f and yieldinglypressing said letter against the arm g. lVhen the letter is thus pressed against said arm, itswings the outer end of the same toward the head d and into a peripheral groove or recess 3, formed in said head. Said recess extends nearly around the circumference of the head, but is interrupted at one side by a protuberance having two surfaces '7 S, the surface 7 being within the periphery of the head and hereinafter called a shoulder, while the surface 8 is on the periphery of the head and is hereinafter called a peripheral surface. After the arm 9 is moved into the recess3 by m presses the inking-roll yieldingly against the forward movement of the letter it the shoulder 7 strikes said arm, as indicated in Fig. 6, and moves it in the direction required to cause its inner end to firmly press the clutch g against the collar on the shaft 6 and thus lock the impression-roll to said shaft, so that the roll commences to rotate with the head (I, the two shafts c and 6 being rotated in opposite directions by means hereinafter described. The head (Z and the impressionroll f are thus caused to a t to positively feed the letter 7t forward and print the same, the printing-form coming into contact with the letter, as will be readily seen.

It should be here mentioned that the yield ing feed movement imparted to the letter 7.; by the feeding device, to be presently described, causes the letter to follow the arm g until it is grasped by the meeting surfaces of the head (1 and impression-roll f.

\Vhen the head (1 and impression-roll f have made nearly a complete rotation from the position shown in Fig. 6, the peripheral surface 8 of the head (Z comes in contact with the outer end of the arm g, as shown in Fig. 7, and moves said arm backwardly, thus causing it to release the clutch g and instantly disengage the impression-roll from the shaft 6, said peripheral surface 8 acting at the same time as a stop, which, through the arm g, checks the momentum of theimpression-roll, so that the latter is instantly stopped, the arm g remaining in the position shown in Fig. 7, ready to be acted upon by the next letter. It will beseen, therefore, that a letter approaching the head d and impressionroll f cannot be engaged by said head and roll and moved positively forward until the shoulder 7 of the head comes into position to strike the arm g. Hence the printing-form always acts on the letter at a given distance from its advancing end. In case the peripheral surfaces is in position to support the arm g when it is first moved by the contact of the advancing letter with it, said letter,wl1ich is moved yieldingly, is retarded for the brief period required to carry the peripheral surface away from the arm g and then presses said arm into the recess, where it awaits the arrival of the shoulder 7.

I do not limit myself to the details of the clutch device here shown and described, and may adapt the projecting arm g to operate the clutch in any suitable way, or the said arm itself may constitute the clutch by the bearing of its inner end upon the shaft or the collar 7t thereof, as shown in Fig. 8.

m represents an inkingroll, which is mounted upon a stud m, affixed to a swinging frame 071?, which is pivoted at m to an car on the table ct. A spring m bearing on the arm the periphery of the head (I.

The shaft a, carrying the head d, is journaled in bearings 12 n on the swinging ends of arms 22 01 which extend from a hub n mounted to oscillate on a fixed stud attached to the table. Said arms and hub'co'nstitutc a swinging frame, which enables the shaft 0 and the head thereon to swing toward and from the impression-roll, and thus permit letters of any thickness to pass between said head and roll. A spring a, attachedjat n to the table and bearing at one end against the bearing a, presses the head d toward the impression-roll. The shaft 6, carrying the impression-rollfi is journaled in a bearing 0, attached to the frame Z) below the table, and in a collar or bearing 1', already described,secured to the table. Said shafts c and e are positively rotated by gearing connecting them with a driving-shaft 19, said gearing comprising a gear g on the driving-shaft, a gear g on a short shaft g an intermediate gear q, connecting the gears q and q, a bevel-gear g on the shaft g a bevel-gear g on the shaft 0, and intermeshing gears (1 affixed, respectively, to the shafts c and e. The shaft 13 may be rotated by a driving-belt running on a pulley p or in any other suitable way.

The feeding device which yieldingly feeds the letters to the printing and positive-feed ing mechanism above described is a spiral conveyer r, which is attached to a shaft r, arranged substantially at right angles With the path of movement of a letter toward the meeting-point of the impression-roll and head (I. The convolutions of said conveyer are partly below and partly above the table, and the conveyer is positively rotated by means presently described.

Above the conveyer is a mouth or hopper 8, into which the letters to be marked may be dropped by an attendant, said mouth being arrangedto guide the letters so that they will drop edgcwise etween the convolutions of the conveyer and stand vertically, or nearly so, between said convolutions. The conveyer is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figs. 1 and 3, and is caused to give the letters a combined lateral movement, resulting from the spiral form of the conveyer, and an endwise movement toward the print ing and positive-feeding devices, caused by the frictional contact of the sides of the convolutions of the conveyer with the sides of the letters. The letters are thus fed yieldingly toward the head (2 and impression-roll f, with the result above described when the letters come in contact with the arm g. The conveyer r is arranged so that the combined lateral and endwise movement it gives the letters will move the advancing end of each 7 letter first into contact with the arm g and ICC tions are preferably of the varying size shown in Fig. 3, they being smalleratone end ofthc conveyor and of gradual]y-increasing diameter-for aportion of the length of the conveyer, and then gradually decreased in diameter to the delivering end of the conveyor. This form is shown and described in Letters Patent No. 441,832, dated December 2, 1890, Ser1al No. 363,241. The shaft 6' and the conveyer thereon are rotated in unison with the shaft 1" and the conveyor 'rby means of suitable gearing connecting said shafts to the driving-shaft.

The letters fed forward by the joint action of the impression-roll f and head cl move endwise between the convolutions of the packer t at the smaller end thereof, said letters being guided and prevented from falling over away from the conveyer if by means of a wall it, which extends along parallel with the path in which the letters are moved by the head (Z and impression-roll f. A wall 11 extending at right angles with the wall "11 and preferably formed as a continuation of the latte acts to arrest the endwise movement of the letters when they have entered the spaces between the convolutions of the conveyertand prevents the letters from moving too far across said conveyer. The letters are moved by the conveyert and packed upon a shelf or extension extending outwardly from the table a atd', Fig. 3.

It will be seen that the mechanism above described is extremely simple, so that the machine is likely to be durable and not easily deranged.

The shafts 1" t are provided, respectively, with bevel-gears r 2 meshing with gears w 10 on a shaft to, which is journaled in atixed bearing to on the supporting-frame, and is provided with a gearm, meshing with the gear (1 on the shaft 12, as shown in Fig. 3. sist in the presentation of the letters to the arm g and to the meeting-point of the roll f and head cl, I secure to the shaft or impression-roll driver 6 a pulley 6 Which rotates continuously with said shaft above the impression-roll. Said pulley e is arranged so that each letter moved forward by the conveyer 1 comes in contact with the moving periphery of the pulley, the latter aiding the eonveyer in moving the letter along to the arm 9 and to the meeting-point of the roll f and head (Z.

I claim 1. In a machine for marking mail-matter, the combination, as a means for printing and positively feeding letters, &c., of a rotating shaft or driver, a roll-normally loose thereon and provided with a shaft-engaging clutch and an operating-arm therefor projecting from the periphery of the roll, said arm being adapted to be moved by a letter advancing toward it, a rotating roll or head arranged to co-operate with the first-mentioned roll and provided with two operating-surfaces,

To asco-operate, as described, with the clutch-013 crating arm in alternately engaging the clutch with and disengaging it from said shaft or driver, a printing-form attached to one of said rolls, and a segmental impression-surface on the other roll, as set fortl 2. In a machine for marking mail-matter, the printing and positive-feeding mechanism consisting of a rotating shaft or driver, an impression-roll. normally loose thereon and provided with a shaft-engaging clutch and an operating-arm therefor projecting from the periphery of the roll, said arm being adapted to be moved by a letter advancing toward the in'ipression-roll, and a rotating head arranged to co-operate with said roll and provided with a printing-form and withtwo operating-surfaces, one of which is within the periphery of the head and acts on the arm after its movement by a letter to engage the clutch and the impression-roll with its shaft, the other operating-surface being on the periphery of said head and acting on the arm to disconnect the impression-roll from its shaft and stop the rotation of said roll, all combined substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with the letter-printing and positive-feeding mechanism comprising the rotating shaft or driver, the loose impressionroll thereon provided with a clutch and with a clutch-operating arm, and a rotating head having a printing-form and two clutch-operating surfaces, as described, of the feed-pulley affixed to the impression-roll-operating shaft above said roll, and a letterfeeding device arranged to co-operate with said pulley in presenting a letter to the clutch operating arm and to the meeting-point of the impression-roll and head, as set forth.

at. In a machine for marking mail-matter, a circular head affixed to a rotating shaft. and provided with a segmental printing-form constituting a part of the periphery of the head, said head having a peripheral recess interrupted by a shoulder within the periphery of the head and a peripheral surface forming a part of the said periphery, combined with a rotating shaft in suitable proximity to said head, an impression-roll loosely mounted on said shaft and carrying a clutch adapted to engage the said roll with and disengage it from the shaft, and an arm or lever pivoted to the said roll and engaged at its inner end with the clutch, its outer end projecting outside the periphery of the roll within the path of a letter approaching the said head and roll, said lever being arranged to be moved by the approaching letter into the path of the shoulder on the head and by said shoulder into position to engage the clutch with the shaft supporting the impression-roll, whereby the impression-roll is rotated with the head and printing-form until the said peripheral sur face of the head meets the lever and through and stops the rotation of the impression-roll,

as set forth.

5. In a machine for marking mail-matter, the combination of a supporting bed or table, letter-printing and positive-feeding mechanism located over the table and composing a rotating printing-form and a rotating impression-bed, a yielding letter-feed consisting of a spiral conveyor arranged partly below and partly above said table, its axis being substantially at right angles with the path of a letter between said printing-form and impression-roll, and means for rotating said conveyer, whereby its convolutions are caused to yieldingly present letters dropped between them to the printing and positive-feeding mechanism, as set forth.

6. The combination ofa bed ortable, a printing and positive-feeding mechanism above said table, comprising a rotating head having a printing-form, an impression-roll, a rotating "shaft on which said roll is loosely mounted,

and a movable arm or lever projecting from the periphery of the impression-roll to operate a clutch which connects said roll with and disconnects it from its shaft, the printinghead having surfaces arranged to co-operate, as described,with said arm,a spiral conveyer arranged partly below and partly above said table and arranged as described relatively to the printing mechanism, and means for rorating said eonveyer, whereby its convolutions are caused to yieldingly press a letter dropped between them first against the said arm to displace the latter and then to the point where the head and roll grasp the letter,

as set forth.

7. In a machine for marking mail-matter, the combination of a bed or table, two spiral conveyers arranged with their convolutions partly below and partly above said table, their axes being substantially parallel, one of said conveyers constituting a yielding letter-feed and the other a packer, and a printing and positive-feeding mechanism located between said conveyors and comprising a rotating head having a printing-form and a rotating impression-roll, said mechanism being arranged to receive letters from the feeding-conveyer and to present the letters after printing to the packing-conveyer, as set forth.

8. In a machine for marking mailmatter,

the combination of the rotating shaft or driver, the normally-loose impression -ro1l upon said shaft, having a clutch adapted to connect it with and disconnect it from the shaftand-an outwardly-projecting clutch-operating arm, the letter-feeding pulley ordisk affixed to the said shaft or driver above the impressionroll, the continuously-rotating head arranged to cooperate with the impression roll in grasping and positively feeding a letter, said head having a printing-form constituting a part of its periphery, a peripheral groove above said form adapted to receive the said clutch-operating arm and two surfaces interrupting said groove, one being a shoulder within the periphery of the head and the other a portion of said periphery, said surfaces being adapted to co-operate, as described, with the clutch-operatin g arm inengaging the impression-roll with and disengaging it from its shaft or driver, a bed or table arranged to support the lower edge of a letter in suitable relation to said head and impression-roll, a spiral conveyer located partly below said table and presenting portions of its convolutions above the table, and means for rotating said conveyer, whereby it is caused to feed a letter forward to the said feeding pulley ordisk and to co-operate with the latter, first, in pressing the letter against the clutch-operating arm to force the latter into the groove in therotating head, and, secondly, in presenting the letter to the meeting-point of the impression-roll and head after the impression-roll has been set in motion, as set forth. 7 c

0. The letter-supporting bed or table, the spiral conveyer arranged with its convolutions partly above said table, and the letterprinting and positive -feeding devices arranged above said table to receive letters fed forward by said conveyor, combined with a guide or hopper located above said couveyer and adapted to guide letters into the spaces between the convolutions of the conveyer, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 18th day of October, A. D. 1890.

FRANK N. ETHRIDGE.

Witnesses:

O. F. BROWN, EWING W. HAMLEN. 

